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Osh (
Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...
: Ош,
romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (estimated to be more than 3,000 years old) and has served as the administrative center of Osh Region since 1939. The city has an ethnically mixed population of 322,164 , comprising Uzbeks,
Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...
, Russians, Tajiks, and other smaller ethnic groups. It is about 5 km from the Uzbekistan border.


Overview

Osh has an important outdoor
bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...
which has been taking place on the same spot for the past 2000 years and was a major market along the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. The city's industrial base, established during the Soviet period, largely collapsed after the break-up of the Soviet Union and has recently only started to revive. The proximity of the Uzbekistan border, which cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development. Daily flights from Osh Airport link Osh—and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan—to
Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
and some international destinations, mainly in Russia. Osh has two railway stations and a railway connection to Andijan in neighbouring Uzbekistan, but no passenger traffic and only sporadic freight traffic. Most transport is by road. The recent upgrading of the long and arduous road through the mountains to Bishkek has greatly improved communications. The city has several monuments, including one to the southern Kyrgyz leader ( ky, датка, datqa) Kurmanjan and one of the few remaining statues of Lenin. A Russian Orthodox church, reopened after the demise of the Soviet Union, the second-largest mosque in the country, built in 2012 and situated beside the bazaar, and the 16th-century Rabat Abdul Khan Mosque can be found here. The only World Heritage Site in Kyrgyzstan, the Sulayman Mountain, offers a splendid view of Osh and its environs. This mountain is thought by some researchers and historians to be the famous landmark of antiquity known as the " Stone Tower", which Claudius Ptolemy wrote about in his famous work ''Geography''. It marked the midpoint on the ancient
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
, the overland trade route taken by caravans between Europe and Asia. The National Historical and Archaeological Museum Complex Sulayman is carved in the mountain, containing a collection of archaeological, geological, and historical finds and information about local flora and fauna. Its first Western-style supermarket, ''Narodnyj'', opened in March 2007. Osh is home to Osh State University, one of the largest universities in Kyrgyzstan.


Administration

Osh city (Ош шаар, "Osh shaar") covers and, like the capital city of Bishkek, is administered separately and not part of any region, although it is the seat of Osh Region. Besides the city proper, 11 villages are administered by the city: Almalyk, Arek, Gulbaar-Tölöykön, Japalak, Kengesh, Kerme-Too, Orke, Pyatiletka, Teeke and parts of Ozgur and Tölöykön.


Population

Osh is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan after the capital city of
Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
. According to the population estimate of 2021, the city population amounted to 322,164, of which 33,315 resided in the 11 villages that the City of Osh administers. At the 2009 census, 47.9% of the population were Kyrgyz, 44.2% were Uzbeks, 2.5% Russians, 2.2% Turks, 1.1% Tatars and 2.1% other nationalities. The population of the built-up (or metro) area in the surrounding
Kara-Suu District , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = Kara-suu rajon.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal ...
and in neighbouring Uzbékistan is estimated at 400,000 inhabitants.


History


Early history

The city is among the oldest settlements in Central Asia. Osh was known as early as the 8th century as a center for silk production along the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
. The famous trading route crossed Alay Mountains to reach
Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
to the east.
Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
, founder of the Mughal Empire and descendant of Tamerlane, was born in nearby Andijan, in the Fergana Valley, pondered his future on Sulayman Mountain and even constructed a mosque atop of the mountain. Babur somehow concludes that the confines of the Fergana would cramp his aspirations as a descendant of famous conquering warrior princes. He wrote of the city:
"There are many sayings about the excellence of Osh. On the southeastern side of the Osh fortress is a well-proportioned mountain called Bara-Koh, where, on its summit, Sultan Mahmud Khan built a pavilion. Farther down, on a spur of the same mountain, I had a porticoed pavilion built in 902 (1496-7)"


Imperial Russian and Soviet rule

The city was occupied and annexed by the Russian Empire in 1876 when Russia overwhelmed the Central Asian khanates during the so-called " Great Game," the contest between Britain and Russia for dominance in Central Asia. This conquest was achieved and the inclusion to the Russian Empire made by the mid-1880s, with main credit to General von Kaufman and General
Mikhail Skobelev Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev (russian: Михаил Дмитриевич Скобелев; 29 September 1843 – 7 July 1882), a Russian Empire, Russian general, became famous for his conquest of Central Asia and for his heroism during the Russo ...
. In the 1960s Osh and other towns in the south of the Kyrgyz SSR began to be industrialized. The population of Osh and other towns in the Fergana Valley that falls within Kyrgyzstan has traditionally consisted of a significant number of ethnic Uzbeks. When Osh started to industrialize the ethnic "Kyrgyz were encouraged to move from the Kyrgyz populated countryside to the cities to work in industrial jobs and public administration." This contributed to the rise of social tension between the two groups.


1990 riots

In 1990, shortly before the end of Soviet power in Central Asia, Osh and its environs experienced bloody ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. There were about 1,200 casualties, including over 300 dead and 462 seriously injured. The riots broke out over the division of land resources in and around the city.


2010 ethnic violence

In 2010, after
riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...
in
Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
and other major Kyrgyz cities, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev took refuge in the city to hide from protesters denouncing his government and its response to the nation's struggling economy. On May 13, 2010, Bakiyev supporters took over government buildings in Osh and seized the airport, preventing interim government officials from landing. The protesters demanded Bakiev's return, and forced the regional governor to flee. The former Osh regional governor Mamasadyk Bakirov was reinstated. On June 10, 2010, riots erupted in Osh, killing at least 81 and injuring hundreds of others. "An explosion of violence, destruction and looting in southern Kyrgyzstan on 11–14 June 2010 killed many dozens of people, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks got killed and destroyed over 2000 buildings, mostly homes, and deepened the gulf between the country's ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks." Local media reported that gangs of young men armed with sticks and stones smashed shop windows and set cars aflame in the city center. Several buildings and homes across the city were also set on fire. The city's police force proved incapable of restoring order resulting in a state of emergency being declared and the army being mobilised. The Kyrgyz intelligence agency claimed that the just-deposed president initiated the 2010 violence, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who is said to have made a deal with foreign narco-jihadist gangs to take over southern Kyrgyzstan and initiate a shariah state in exchange for the Bakiyev family's being returned to controlling Bishkek. However, to the day no serious proof has been presented to the public and media. According to various sources, up to 100,000 ethnic Uzbek refugees fled to Uzbekistan. Many refugee camps have been organized in the Andijan, Fergana and Namangan regions of Uzbekistan for Uzbek citizens of Kyrgyzstan who cross the border seeking safety.


Geography


Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Osh features a
continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
(Dsa), with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Osh receives on average roughly 400 millimeters of precipitation annually, the bulk of which typically falls on the city outside the summer months. Summers are hot in Osh, with average high temperatures routinely exceeding 30 °C. Winters are cold with average temperatures below freezing during a good portion of the season. Spring and autumn are transitional seasons, with temperatures rising during the course of the spring season and falling during the course of the autumn.


Cityscape


Notable people

* Anvar Artykov (born 1951), a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. Served as governor of Osh Region between March and December 2005, and was previously a deputy between 1990 and 2000. *
Aynuru Altybayeva Aynuru Toychiyevna Altybayeva (born 28 February 1958) is a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. Early life and education Altybayeva was born on 28 February 1958 in the city of Osh in Osh Oblast in the Kirgi ...
(born 1958) a Kyrgyz politician, and current member of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan. * Roza Otunbayeva (born 1950) is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politician who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from April 2010 until 1 December 2011. * Zhantoro Satybaldiyev (born 1956), a Kyrgyz politician who was Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from September 2012 until March 2014.


Twin towns - sister cities

Osh is twinned with: * Yozgat, Turkey * Manisa, Turkey *
Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
, Saudi Arabia


See also

*
Bakyt Beshimov Bakyt Beshimov (russian: Бактыбек Жолчубекович Бешимов; born 1954) is a leader of parliamentary fraction and deputy chairman of Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan. Bakyt Beshimov is a prominent opposition leader, famo ...
* Jamala * Roza Otunbayeva


References


External links


Info on Osh
On Osh State University's Medical Institute's website (English)
Official website of Medical Institute, Osh State University

City of Osh
Official website (in Russian)
The Spektator - Society, culture and travel articles on Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region

Osh local sights
{{Authority control Regions of Kyrgyzstan Populated places along the Silk Road Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan border crossings Cities in Central Asia Fergana Oblast